The End
by Shibby-One
Summary: A tribute to the end of YGO Yugi finds an old scrapbook that brings back many memories from his past.


**Welp****, today the YuGiOh anime ended in Japan. ;-; September 29th, 2004. Suuuuuu, Imma write a wittle ficcy in honor of them. n.n**

**_The End_**

****

**…………………………………………………………………**

"Hey! Heeeeey! Are you ignoring me on purpose?"

"Maybe I am. _Maybe_ I'm _trying_ to _study_ for the midterms. Just maybe."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Yeah, yeah she is, Jonouchi."

"Fine, I see how it is!"

_SLAM!!_

Yugi looked up from his backpack. He could hear Anzu and Honda taunting Jonouchi from his room. Yugi was kneeling on his bedroom floor, rummaging through his bag for one of his books to study with.

Sitting up straight, he could hear laughter as loud, raucous footsteps came into the room. He knew Jonouchi wasn't _really_ mad; he was just pretending to put on a show. _None_ of them wanted to study, not even Anzu, who was trying to push them to it. It was just too…

"_Boring_," Jonouchi stressed, finishing Yugi's thought for him. Yugi smiled and shook his head.

"It always will be, Jonouchi, if you have _that_ attitude."

"I have never heard of studying to _not_ be boring."

"Jonouchi, calm down…"

"Hey, guys, I don't think I have it…" Yugi called downstairs, pushing books aside in his bag. "It's not here… Wait," Yugi said, looking up at his desk, "Never mind, here it is." He stood up and reached out for the book on his desk. It was a big, heavy book, one of which no one liked to carry around and cursed the teacher who assigned it. It was dark blue with the kanji for _History_ on it. Yugi placed his hand on the book and frowned. He didn't want to have to lug this giant thing downstairs…

"Gah, I'll do it," he said, defeated. They needed it for their midterms…

He bent down to scoop it into his arms. As he did so, he looked up to see where it was, and realized he was eye level with the wall behind his desk. Not just the wall, but the things tacked _to_ the wall.

They were photos.

Unaware of the voices downstairs, Yugi pushed his school things aside to see the photos clearly. School had gotten harder and had taken up more time; he had nearly forgotten that these photos were here, amid the chaos on his desk.

Because they weren't in any covering and had been behind books for nearly two years, some of them were yellowed around the edges. Yugi gulped.

It made everything seem so much longer ago then it truly was. He bit his lower lip, looking at all the photos.

Truth was, they weren't just studying for their midterms. They were getting a leg up to study for their center tests, which they would be taking near the end of the school year. **1**

He was eighteen.

"Wow," he whispered, placing a hand on the photos. It seemed so… long ago…

He bent down next to his desk and pulled out a thick, black book. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, attempting to hold his tears back, he untacked the pictures and taped them into the black book. He then closed the book and hauled it downstairs with his History book, smiling boldly in an attempt not to cry.

"Yeah, I know, it's…" Jonouchi was saying when Yugi came into the room, but he trailed off as he noticed Yugi's face.

Yugi sat down, not even realizing that everyone had stopped talking. "Yugi…?"

Startled, he looked up.

He wasn't able to hide the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Yugi? Yugi, what happened?" Ryou asked, leaning forwards. Yugi smiled and shook his head.

"It's… it's nothing…" he said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah…"

Just then, the sounds of a horn from a ship sounded into the windows. Yugi gave a small gasp, and clutched the lack book tighter to his chest.

"God, how can you stand that all damn day…" Jonouchi wondered. Honda agreed. Yugi said nothing. Anzu watched Yugi, biting her lower lip.

"Yugi-kun? What's the matter?" she asked. Yugi placed his History book down, then the black book. The five others just stared at the book, then at each other.

"Yugi, what is that?" Otogi asked. Anzu reached out and grabbed it in her hands, placing it in her lap. Yugi was looking at the floor, tears rolling down his cheeks.

…No wonder he had hidden those photos… it hurt so much to look at them…

Anzu opened the cover. On the first white, blank page, was a single photo. It was still colored, although the color had somewhat faded. Anzu gasped.

It was a picture of Yugi. It wasn't that big of a shock; this was Yugi's book, whatever was inside.

_It was a photo of Yugi solving the Puzzle._

Underneath that was written the word "Beginning".

_It had been the beginning._

Anzu flipped more pages, not saying a word. Her face said it all. As she flipped through, she saw so many things…

"What is that, Anzu?" Jonouchi asked. He leaned over her shoulder.

"It's like… a scrapbook of sorts," she said slowly. She ran her hand over the pages, turning them.

"Scrap book of what?" Otogi asked. Anzu stopped at a page, picked up the book, and faced it to Otogi.

It was page with seven separate drawings of the seven separate Sennen Items.

"Wha…?" Was his reaction.

"Look at this. It has photos, and cards, and tickets and other things from… that time… Yugi," Anzu said, looking up. "Did you make this?"

Yugi nodded slowly.

"I was… afraid of forgetting," he said, biting his lower lip. Anzu smiled at him.

"This is incredible…" she said, and flipping the page.

This page held a single photo as well.

It was a photo of Yugi, just standing there in Domino Center, looking up at a clock on a high post. Hands in his pockets, he looked almost bored.

The only thing was, it wasn't Yugi.

It was Atemu.

All four of the people staring at the album stopped, just staring at that one moment in time.

It wasn't that huge of a photo; a normal snapshot, some light got in the way in the corner, but besides that pretty decent.

"Yugi… when did you take this picture?" Anzu asked, breaking the silence. Yugi shrugged.

"Yeah, when were _any_ of these pictures taken?" Jonouchi wondered. Again, Yugi shrugged.

"I found them in my room when we got back," he explained. "I don't know who took them or where they came from, but I'm glad I have them."

"Whoever did that is… an amazing person," Anzu whispered. She closed the book gently as silence ensued.

Yugi felt as if his heart would be wrenched from his chest. He missed his darker half so much. It hurt him. It was physically hurting him to feel this emotional pain.

His chest, his head, his entire body started throbbing with uncontrollable pain. He had never felt an emotion so strongly before.

"Ahh… Ahhh!" he cried, wrapping his arms around his chest. He leaned forwads, coughing hard. Jonouchi reached out and grabbed both of Yugi's shoulders, holding him steady.

"Yugi? Are you alright?" he asked, shaking the boy. Yugi looked up, tears in his eyes, his lips dripping with blood from his coughing.

Never, in his life, had Jonouchi seen Yugi look so helpless before.

"J-Jounouchi-kun… I miss him too much!" Yugi cried, shivering. Anzu, Otogi, Honda and Ryou all reacted at this, crawling over to where he was kneeling.

"He doesn't look well," Honda said.

"It's part stress from all the studying they load onto seniors," Anzu said softly. "Yugi, it's alright, it's…" she trailed off.

"It's not only you. We miss him too, Yugi," Jonouchi said softly. "We… we miss it _all._"

"Yes," Honda agreed. He closed his eyes. "We miss the insanity that came with the Sennen Items."

"It was so amazing, Yugi," Anzu said, biting her lower lip. "I… I could never forget it!"

"Everything that happened was truly unbelievable," Otogi agreed. "Everything. From the moment that Puzzle was solved—"

"—Our lives changed forever, Yugi. Thank you," Jonouchi whispered, rubbing the boy's back. Yugi pulled his hand away from his mouth, his hand dotted with blood.

"I want… to see them all again," he said. "One last time…"

"Maybe you can," Anzu said, smiling. Tears had already rolled down her cheeks. "It isn't _the end_ until you decide it is, Yugi."

"Yeah," the others agreed.

"You might miss it, but, it'll always be there." Anzu smiled brightly. "Who knows… After high school, it might not be the end. It might be something else."

"Heh," Yugi said hoarsely. He coughed again. "Minna… I'm really tired…" he said, his eyelids drooping. His arms closed subconsciously around the black-bound book as he closed his eyes.

**…………………………………………………………………**

That evening, people were walking by the ocean side, chattering and shopping and doing things people normally do. Anzu was amid them, staring out at the sea. The sun was setting, sending beautiful orange, red and pink streaks into the sky.

"Atemu… How can anyone forget you now?" Anzu asked the sky. It didn't respond. "You were there with us the entire time. Through everything. I… we…. I… thank you for that. You changed our lives. Please, if you can hear me," Anzu begged, "You should know what has happened. Yugi succumbed to stress this afternoon. Stress and… emotion. He missed you… If you can hear me, please, show me… something…"

A soft wind picked up. It was a light, warm breeze, wrapping around Anzu gently.

"Heh… if you gave me that, I thank you," she said in a joking matter. She stared off at the sky and the sea, not noticing a single, dark cloud on the horizon.

Except… it was moving too quickly to be a cloud.

"What the…" Anzu said, taking a step backwards. The cloud was closing in, becoming lighter, taking shape…

A huge flock of white falcons flew overhead. The dying light from the sun was reflecting off their feathers, making them glow with brilliance.

They flapped melodically together, swooping down around Anzu. She stared in awe.

Falcons don't live in Japan…

One white falcon landed on the edge of the railing. Anzu looked at the bird. The falcon cocked his head. Anzu's eyes widened.

_The falcon is a symbol of desire and longing._

"Atemu… Did you send these birds?" she whispered as the beautiful bird lifted off again. How else would a flock of Egyptian falcons show up?

Anzu smiled and closed her eyes.

"It's the end, isn't it?" she whispered, the sun finally lying down underneath the horizon.

**…………………………………………………………………**

**1) Center tests: Equivalent to American SATs**

Well, that's it. YuGiOh is over and done with in Japan. Now it's the next thing… but, eventually, YuGiOh will end, and won't come back. It's kind of sad, but, at the same time, it wouldn't be great if it didn't end. Still, people still write fanfics for Sailor Moon and stuff, and that ended years ago. So we can still hope n.n

**Dedicated to the years that the anime ran. And the manga.**

**Shibby****-One**


End file.
